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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674423">of stone and song</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressofcali/pseuds/empressofcali'>empressofcali</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tyranny (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Character Study, Found Family, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:41:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,306</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674423</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressofcali/pseuds/empressofcali</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A dual character study of Carin and Sirin, their thought processes, and how they've influenced each other.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cairn &amp; Sirin (Tyranny)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. stone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cairn knew that his rebellion would never succeed. He was not a fool. He was <em>not</em>. He was fractured, he was losing his mind piece by piece. But Cairn was not a fool. So he would take his last acts and he would give them meaning in their desperation, even as he inevitably fell to the will of Kyros.</p>
<p>(He was so, so glad that the little songbird was away. Sirin had years of life left to live, he would not let her crash and burn with him. He hid his final words in the caverns he built, knowing only she would hear them, and wished he could have said a proper goodbye.)</p>
<p>Cairn would fall, but in doing so he would give a lesson in resistance against the Overlord. He would let the people learn from his mistakes. He would not give them hope, but that was alright. He was not the kind of man for such things in the first place.</p>
<p>The Archon of Stone felt something like pride when the Edict targeting him was spoken, knowing that Kyros had to resort to such a drastic piece of magic in order to stop him. Were he still whole in mind it would have been alongside shame. Cairn was not a fool, he knew that the Overlord would not care enough to kill him without casualties. The innocents dead would have pained him anyways if he had thought it over.</p>
<p>He couldn't, though. There was so little time, and even less of himself still conscious. Still, he would take this curse and clutch it’s silver lining, in the form of the knowledge that now he could give the Beastwomen a place to call home. So he gave his people the strength of his memory, and then he rooted himself to the land and gave it all of the rest.</p>
<p>Cairn’s last thoughts were of the little songbird and the tribes he had gathered. It was faith in them, that they would make his sacrifice matter. He refused to believe his acts were futile.</p>
<p>(Cairn was not a fool, even if he would not live long enough to confirm it. He had not misplaced his trust.)</p>
<p>The Archon of Stone fell that day. He lives only in technicality, now. Breathing enough for the Edict to continue, but dead in all other respects. He is gone, and with him his doomed rebellion. Unknown to the Overlord, that was not all he left behind. Cairn is no more, but his true legacy still remains.</p>
<p>(Kills-in-Shadow’s voice rumbles fondly as she talks of the man who made the Stone Sea her people call home. Sirin listens to the caves sing, and closes her eyes in honor of her first true friend.)</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. song</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>From the day she first opened her mouth to sing, gorgeous and haunting and powerful, the Archon of Song knew her name would echo throughout history. She has always had it burnt into her bones that she is destined for greatness. It wasn't until she stood in front of Kyros, eight years of age and a slave in all but name, that Sirin realized great does not equal good.</p><p>She will be great, and she will be beautiful, and she will not be good. There is no doubt her legacy will last a thousand years, but she cannot imagine it will be written in anything except fear and pain. The Archon of Song is no creature of kindness.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>(Only a monster makes their mother bleed.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sirin finds herself sent off to war and it does not sand her into a thing of jagged edges, it just sharpens the ones she was already made of. She tries to force herself to make peace with the fact, to accept that this is who she is: beautiful and great and monstrous. It would be a much harder road to walk, she thinks, were it not for Cairn.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That fact may invite surprise because the Archon of Stone was not a nice man, most of the time. At least in the eyes of others. He was rough in his manner and short in his temper, but he was never cruel.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(That is more than Sirin can say for herself.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her songs never worked the same way on him. Perhaps it was because he was half stone, but Sirin's music touched Cairn differently. He could almost <em>hear </em>her, more than anyone else ever did. That's what drew her to him at first, but only half of why she stayed at his side.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The reason she stayed was because he looked at this girl, a monster leaving trails of blood in her wake, and he called her a little songbird. He accepted her, beauty and greatness and cruelty all in one. The Archon of Song does not want to imagine a world where she never got to perch on his shoulder and giggle at his bad jokes while watching the sun sink below the horizon.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Cairn always told her that one day he'd show her the flowers of his homeland. It was a promise that Sirin clung to at night, when the war loomed over her and Nerat's laugh echoed in her ears. When she wound up her worshipers like little toy soldiers to march off to the frontlines, she held onto his words because they showed her a future after the end of this horror.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There is a part of her that wants to rage at him now for giving her false hope, to scream liar-liar-<em>liar</em> in a tone not meant for human ears, even though she has never been the type for fiery anger. When she is furious it is a cold, deep thing. But in this case it is neither. Instead, when news reached Sirin of what Cairn's done, she just feels empty.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Because he won’t be showing her flowers, or laughing so deeply it rumbles through her bones, or growling at the men who stare at her, or doing much of anything anymore. The Archon of Stone is alive only in name. Losing him is like losing a part of herself, he was something of a father to her in a way her blood sire never could have been. An ally. A confidant. Not a partner in crime, but that's only because she learned of his defection too late to do anything about it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(She thinks she would have gone down with him. Even though self preservation has always been a good skill of hers, Cairn was her very first friend. Maybe it's a good thing she never got the chance to find out if that would have been enough to make her put someone else first.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>When the Fatebinder comes knocking at her door, Sirin packs her bags because there is nowhere else for her to go. And as they travel together she cannot help but imagine a different future, one that breaks her heart just the tiniest bit. The Archons of Spire and Stone could have been something incredible together. But Cairn is gone even if not dead, and Sirin is still here. There is no point in dwelling on what will never be.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Instead she forges on, and slowly her heart unfurls like a flower in spring. Surrounded by fellow creatures of power, the Archon of Song watches as they leave compassion in their wake as often as pain. She is fifteen years old when she realizes that great can exist alongside good.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sirin is great, and she is beautiful, and she is not good. But she is trying to be more than the sum of her parts, more than a monster with a pretty voice. She isn't there yet, but that's alright. She has an entire life ahead of her to try.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>(Are you proud of me, Cairn? I've finally learned how to love myself.)</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I actually finished a multi-chapter story! It's just a two-shot, but still! I think I'm allowed to be proud of taking a first step towards eventually following through on a full-length novella.</p><p>Even if it's just a "&lt;3" let it be known that any comment is appreciated. Thank you very much for reading!</p><p>-Mae</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There are a lot of dumb hills I will die on, but Cairn being Sirin's surrogate father/brother/uncle/bestie figure is one of my favorites.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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